Drain outlet and the method of making same



1949 P. F. DONAHUE 92,093

DRAIN OUTLET AND THE METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Dec. 6, 1945 K 5 INVENTOR.

Pdtl'lfk EDonahue.

Patented Dec. 20, 1949 DRAIN OUTLET AND THE METHOD OF l MAKING Patrick F. Donahue, Waterbury, Cnn., assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company,Waterbury, Conn,acorporation oiConnecticut Application December 6, i345, Serial No. 633,102

SClainis.

. This invention relates to plumbing fixturesandw;

particularly to a drain fitting suchas used in connection withsinks or lavatory bowls.

One object of this invention is to improve the strainer member that is usually incorporated into such drain fittings.

Another object is to position the strainer member of this fitting in such a manner that it will .not obstruct the overflow drainage outlets.

It has been customary in such drain fittings to provide fingers integrally formed out of the stock of the fitting and disposed in an inwardly radial manner to act as the strainer for the drain fittings and prevent large objects, such as soap pieces and the like, passing into the drainage pipes. These fingers initially are disposed across the drainage openings in the side walls of the fitting and in the past it has been customary to form such fingers radially inwardly from the lower edges of said openings. It is the purpose of my invention to improve the construction by forming the fingers inwardy from the upper edge of the drain openings so as not to interfere in any way with the overflow drainage system.

Another object is to interconnectthe free ends of the fingers in such a manner that they will be rigidly interconnected together and cannot be readily pried apart as individual members, this being accomplished by an axial swaging operation that drifts the metal disposed in the ends of the ter of the drain fitting.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the drain J-fitting, per se. i Fig. 3 is an upper plan view of the same andshowing the strainer fingers in their completed state.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to .Fig. 3 but showing the .inner ends of the strainer fingers as they appear before the swaging operation.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional'view .through the body portion of the drain fitting taken substantially along the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of the inner .-ends of the strainer fingers to show particularly the results of this swaging operation and the -manner in which the apical ends of the fingers :are united together, and

.7 is a view similar-to Fig, 5 with the ends fingers into an interconnected mass at the cen-x swaging operation.

SAME

of the fingers in "their unswaged state shown in conjunction with the tools that are employed for swaging the adjacent tip ends of the strainer fingers, with the tools positioned just prior to the Referring now to the drawing in which like numerals designatelilie parts throughout the several views, the numeral l0 denotes a complete unit plug-type drain or waste fitting such as is usedin connection with sinksor lavatory bowls ll shown indot-and-dash outline in Fig. 1. The drain fitting comprises acylindrical tubular shell I 2 having a flanged upper end l3 which is adapted tofit into a complementary recess l4 providedinthe base of the lavatory bowl II. The lavatory bowls are usually formed with a depending channel part l5 that provides for an .overflowdrain passage IS. The outer wall of the tubular shell is provided with a threaded section 11 to which may be threadedly engaged the flanged nut partl8 of an extension tube IS, the flanged nut part adapted to be threaded up against the adjacent underwall portion of the channel part [5 against an interposed washer 20 in securing andsealing the drain fitting l0 rig- .idlyto the lavatory bowl" I I.

gwiththe overflow drain' passage I6, and in this case there is shown specifically four diametrically opposed overflow drain openings 2| preferably of circular character. To provide for a strainer in the fitting belongated tongues or fingers 22 are shearedout from'the stock initially occupied in theoverflow openings 2! as indicated by dotted outline in Fig. 2, the proximal ends of these fingers 122 being preferably connected integrally to the tubular shell I2 at the upper ends of their respective openings ZI'for reasons as will appear later; It "is also to'be'noted that the overall dehgthof the fingers 2215 such that initially their lower distal ends intercept and extend be- .yond the normal diameter of the circle as shown J'by the intercepting cut-out 23 inorder to provide .sufl'icient-length' to the fingers 22 so that when these fingers are subsequently all formed radially inwardly to their final 'position,they form stra-inerfingers 24 that have their ends approachingeach other inyrelatively close relationship, as best shown in Figml, and together'forming a cross-like strainer member.

-Inthe past where fingers have been struck out of the walls of the drain fitting-and left in the s tate-a s shown in Fig. .4, the fingers are no stronger than the strength that is inherent within themselves and has resulted in some amount of breakage because of the severe strain that is put upon these fingers 24 by the plumbers in assembling the drain fitting ill to its final attached position to a sink or lavatory bowl or in cleanin out the drainage system. 'With one or more of the fingers 24 broken out, the strainer feature of the fitting would consequently be considerably impaired.

In order to strengthen these strainer fingers 24 and overcome the above weaknesses, I "have accomplished this by axially .swaging with a relatively heavy blow theadjacent :distal ends of the fingers 24 and by drifting the metal mater-ial radially inwardly and laterally .as at 25 into a substantially solid interconnected mass except for a relatively small opening 26 in the middle.

Specifically the upper surfaces of the fingers 24 are swaged to form a concave socket 21 while the immediate under surface of the fingers 24 .are formed into-aseries of annular rings 28 :(see Fig. This particular forming operation is provided to facilitate the drifting factor of the metal material in thefinger ends andincrease' the interlocking feature .of the interjoined fingers 24.

It should be understood that,'when the strainer fingers 24 of the character here employed, are initially sheared out of the stock of the tubular shell 12, the sheared edges are of a considerably roughened 'characterof numerous small irregular interstices and projections. With this condition of the sheared edges, it was my concept to swage the ends :of the fingers :24 with an axial blow .sufiicient to drift the adjacent edges of the finger material into intimate contact with each other and cause the numerous interstices and projections to interfit into each other and actually knit the metal together in .a cross-like juncture as indicated by the wavy junction lines '29 in Fig. 6., which junction lines 29, it should be understood, are somewhat exaggerated.

Fragmentary portions of the tools that are employed to swage the, inner ends of the strainer fingers 24 are shown inFig. 7 and comprise essentially a die 31 having an upper concave surface 32 with cross-like recesses 33 formedtherein to accommodate the fingers 24. Concentrically mounted in the die 3| is a plug 34 having annular ridges 35 cut into its upper surface which serve to impress "the annular rings 28 into the under surface of the swagged part of the fingers. The inner ends of the fingers 24 in their unswaged state as shown in Fig. 4 are adapted to rest upon the annular ridges 35 of the plug 34 supporting the fitting thereupon prior to the swaging operation. A punch 36 is provided of a size complementary to the inner diameter of the drain fitting, which punch is provided with a domed face 31 somewhat complementary to the arcuate shape of the fingers. The center of the domed face 31 is provided with a spherical projection 38 that serves to swage the concave socket 2-? into the uppersurfaces of the fingers as previously described. An annular depression 39 separates the spherical projection 38 from the domed surface 3'! and is to allow clearance for the drifting of the finger stock coincident with the swaging operation.

It should be noted that the swaging operation at the adjacent ends of the fingers 24 increases :the width of the finger tips beyond their original state :as clearly indicated by a comparison of Figs. 3 and 6 with Fig. 4 which consequently in- 4 creases the contacting edge surface engagement of the fingers relative to each other. By joining the ends of the individual fingers 24 together by the inexpensive method of a swaging operation in the manner as indicated, the fingers now become united asone complete unitto serve as a. strainer of the drain fitting lfl'withall the advantages of one that is made separately for such fittings and subsequently fitted there in place.

Another advantage to be considered in my drain fitting is the fact that the fingers 24 are formed inwardly from the upper edge of the overflow drainopenings 2 I. By so positioning the fingers to serve as a strainer member above the over- :"llow drain openings 2|, there is no danger of clogging the overflow drain openings as was the case whenthe fingers were formed inwardly from the lower edge of the openings as has been the conventional practice.

While I have herein described and upon the drawing shown an illustrative embodiment "of a drain fitting, it is to be understood that the :invention is not limited thereto butmay'com'prehend other constructions, arrangements without departing from the spirit of the invention and details of "construction.

I claim:

. In a drain fitting comprising'a tubular m'emwith a flanged end, said tubular member having oppositely disposed drain openings through the walla-fingers formed inwardly'from the edge of said-openings toward a common point and on a common plane with their tip ends in abutted relationship adjacent the center axis "of fitting and initially providing an open'spa'ce between said finger ends, "and the 'abutted ends of said fingers being swage'd in spreading the material of the fin er ends radially and'laterally to the extent of substantially filling up "the initial open space "and providing for an interconnected jointed union between the finger ends of a reinforced character.

2. Adrain'fitting as defined by claim 1 wherein the fingers are formed inwardly from the upper edge of sa'idopenings.

3. In a drain fitting-comprising a tubularmember with a flanged end, said tubular member having oppositely disposed openings through its walls, fingers formed inwardly from the upper edge of said openings toward a common point and on a common plane with their tip ends in abutted relationship adjacent the center axis of said fitting, the lengths of said fingers being such as to initially provide for an open space between said fingerends, said fingers collectively forming produce a concave surface defining the upper portion "of said center mass and a series of annular ring surfaces defining its lower portion as a means of producing a greater spread for the swaged material of the finger ends and increase the interconnected portions thereof.

4. In a drain fitting comprising a tubular body with circumferentially arranged drain openings through its wall, fingers sheared from the wall :of said body in a manner to produce relatively rough edges, said fingers initially bisecting said openings and bent inwardly and of a "length to have their tip ends meet on a common plane with an open space therebetween, the tip ends of said fingers being axially swaged to radially and laterally spread the ends of the finger stock so'that their adjacent rough edges are drifted together into intermingled contact one with the other in substantially filling up the open space and forming a centrally connected cross-joint.

5. The method of constructing a strainer element for a drain fitting which comprises forming a tubular flanged body, shearing elongated fingers out of and at equally spaced position about the wall of said body, bending said fingers inwardly from the wall of said body toward a common point on the body axis, said fingers being initially of a length as to have their tip ends meet at the center with an interposed space therebetween, and gripping and swaging the end portion of said fingers axially of the fitting to the extent wherein the material of said finger ends will be drifted inwardly and laterally toward each other to substantially fill up the interposed space and force the sheared edges of said finger ends into intermingled contact with each other and thus provide an interconnected center joint.

6. The method of constructing a strainer element for a drain fitting which comprises forming a tubular flanged body, shearing oppositely opposed pairs of elongated fingers out of the wall of said body, bending said fingers inwardly from the wall of said body toward a common point on the body axis and in the form of a cross, said. fingers being initially of a length as to have their tip ends meet at the center with an interposed space therebetween, and gripping and swaging the end portions of said fingers axially of the fitting to the extent wherein the material of said finger ends will be drifted inwardly and laterally towards each other to substantially fill up the interposed space and force the sheared edges of said finger ends into intermingled contact with each other and thus provide an interconnected center cross-joint.

7. The method of constructing a strainer element for a drain fitting which comprises forming a tubular flanged body, shearing elongated fingers out of and at equally spaced position about the wall of said body, bending said fingers inwardly from the wall of said body toward a common point on the body axis, said fingers being initially of a length as to have their tip ends meet at the center with an interposed space therebetween, setting the undersurface of said finger ends upon an anvil having a series of annular rings on its working face, and swaging the upper surface of said finger ends downwardly with a ball pointed punch to cause the under surface of the finger ends to be stamped with ring impressions as a means of holding the material of the finger ends and causing a sufficient amount of said material to be drifted inwardly to close up the initial interposed spaces and efiect a united butt joint between the finger ends.

8. The method of constructing a strainer element for a drain fitting which comprises forming a tubular flanged body, shearing elongated fingers out of and at equally spaced position about the wall of said body, bending said fingers inwardly from the wall of said body toward a common point on the body axis, said fingers being initially of a length as to have their tip ends meet at the center with an interposed space therebetween, setting the undersurface of said finger ends upon an anvil having an irregular working surface, and swaging the upper surface of said finger ends axially downwardly to cause the material of the finger ends to be stamped with said anvil irregular surface as a means of holding the material of the finger ends and causing a sufiicient amount of said material to be drifted inwardly to close up the initial interposed space and effect a united butt joint between the finger ends.

PATRICK F. DONAHUE'.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 384,449 Kelsey June 12, 1888 387,651 Maxim Aug. 14, 1888 578,801 Wilmot Mar. 16, 1897 595,035 Beranger Dec. 7, 1897 624,144 Wilmot May 2, 1899 1,009,862 Ruckstinat Nov. 28, 1911 1,719,019 Mueller July 2, 1929 1,863,873 Quarnstrom June 21, 1932 1,999,818 McIntyre Apr. 30, 1935 2,167,372 Recker July 25, 1939 2,282,212 Pope May 5, 1942 

